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Washington: Hearing Set On Bill To Legalize Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 8, 2010 Legislation, News

seethru.co.uk

Available at your local liquor store? Yes, in Washington, if HB 2401 passes.

If you want to be able to grow, sell, or smoke marijuana legally in the state of Washington, next Wednesday you may want to be in OIympia, the state capitol, reports Jerry Cornfield at the Everett HeraldNet.

At 1:30 p.m. on January 13, the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee will consider House Bill 2401, which would have Washington treat marijuana much like it does alcohol.

The bill is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson.

If the bill is passed, those 21 or older won’t face criminal penalties for possessing, transporting, or using cannabis, the HeraldNet reports.

However, growing and selling marijuana would still be unlawful, as only state-licensed growers would be allowed to cultivate pot, and only state-licensed stores would be allowed to sell it.

Like with booze, smoking and driving are a no-no, as is providing pot to minors.

Under HB 2401, marijuana could be bought at state liquor stores. A hefty tax would be added to the herb, with proceeds going to drug education and rehabilitation programs.

Cops Leave Ransom Note For Seized Pot Plants; Suspect Tries To Get Them Back

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 5, 2010 Culture, Growing, News

Monroe Co., FL Sheriff’s Dept

The cops didn’t know who grew the pot, so they left this note. The suspect called them back.

If someone ever steals your plants and leaves a ransom note for them, you might want to think about who left the note before responding.

A Marathon, Florida couple were a little too willing to pay $200 to get their six marijuana plants back, calling only 10 minutes after reading a ransom note for the missing crop. Trouble is, it was the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that got the plants and left the note, reports KeysNet.com.

The ransom note read “Thanks for the grow! You want them back? Call for the price. Let’s talk.” The note then contained a police phone number.

Deputies say they found the plants in a wooded lot after receiving a tip. Since they didn’t know who grew the stuff, the ransom note was bait for the grower, if he was dumb enough.

‘Marijuana And Teens’ Scare Study Used No Marijuana And No Teens

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 30, 2009 Culture, News

Graphic: laborbeat.org

It often seems as if the mainstream media is just waiting for something — anything — bad to turn up about the effects of marijuana, despite the long, fruitless search for damning evidence.

Smoking pot is bad because it’s illegal and it’s illegal because it’s bad, goes the circular logic; with this conclusion reached beforehand, then it’s just a matter of waiting for the research to roll in.

Unfortunately for the prohibitionists, just about every unbiased scientific study ever done on the herb shows it to be remarkably safe and amazingly non-toxic.

Especially when compared with other psychoactive substances, and even everyday palliatives such as aspirin and related painkillers — Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), which cause 7,600 deaths per year — pot looks pretty damn safe with a grand total of zero overdose deaths in history.

The difference is even more stark with other “recreational” substances such as tobacco (435,000 deaths per year), alcohol (85,000 deaths per year), prescription drugs (32,000 deaths), and illicit street drugs (17,000 deaths).

But you won’t be seeing much about that in our “fair and balanced” mainstream media, because that apparently doesn’t generate as many sales and click-throughs as trumpeting scare stories about pot.

Dispensary Death Watch #2: Latest Raids, Bans, And Moratoriums

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 18, 2009 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Artwork: Jim Wheeler

Safe access to marijuana remains a distant dream to many patients — even in states which have legalized medical use

One by one, the lights are winking out. In city after city, town after town, in states where medical marijuana is now legal, patients who had dared hope they would at last have safe access to the medicine recommended by their doctors are having those hopes dashed.

The problem? Political cowardice and the panicked reaction of the status quo.

Every week brings more news of freaked out city councils and county boards of supervisors who desperately want to appear to be “doing something” — anything — about the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries.

This phenomenon is so far mostly confined to California and to a lesser extent Colorado, but it’s unfortunately also starting to happen in Michigan, Montana and even Maine — where voters specifically approved dispensaries in November.

Rather than showing true leadership by showing genuine concern for patients and communities, too many local government officials are going for the easy, knee-jerk reaction. The level of disregard for the intentions of the voters — who clearly expressed their will by legalizing medical marijuana — is breathtaking.

Washington State Representatives Pre-File Bill To Legalize Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 17, 2009 Legislation, News

Reality Catcher

Marijuana’s going mainstream.

Six House Democrats have filed a bill in the Washington State Legislature to legalize marijuana.

The bill, which would make pot legal for those 21 or older, would use nearly all the money raised through sales at state liquor/marijuana stores for substance abuse treatment and prevention.

Marijuana revenues will probably be comparable to those for alcohol, according to Dickerson. Alcohol revenues run about $330 million yearly in Washington.

The six Democratic legislators sponsoring the bill are Mary Lou Dickerson and Scott White of Seattle, Roger Goodman of Kirkland, David Upthegrove of Des Moines, Sherry Appleton of Poulsbo and Mary Helen Roberts of Lynwood.

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican, is already on record as opposing the bill. “Like most of my colleagues in law enforcement, like my father who was in law enforcement, I’m not a big fan of making marijuana available without a prescription,” McKenna said.

Dope Of The Day: Op-Ed Writer Says Pot ‘Saps Initiative And Ambition’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 16, 2009 Culture

loopylettuce.wordpress.com

Here’s what pot does to you. Just ask Jill Wellock!

Freelance writer Jill Wellock has a problem.

She really, really dislikes marijuana and, apparently, those who use it.

Wellock generously shares this extreme distaste with us in a guest op-ed piece in today’s edition of The Olympian, the newspaper of Olympia, Washington, the state’s capitol.

Jill gets right down to business with a real winner of a headline:

‘Marijuana saps initiative, ambition and responsibility’

Headline aside, we know right off the bat we’re in for a bumpy ride when Jill starts off by confiding in us that she attended a “rough junior high.” Apparently not really one for nostalgia, Wellock recalls “the stoner girls” carving “Joe Elliot” [sic]“into their forearms with wood screws to prove Def Leppard allegiance.”

Oh, Jill. First of all, if they carved “Joe Elliot,” they aren’t done carving, because the rock star’s name is spelled “Elliott.” Maybe you should give those “stoner girls” a call and tell them they need to get back out the wood screws.

Secondly, if these had been real “stoner girls” during the time period mentioned, they wouldn’t have been carving freakin’ Def Leppard tributes on their arms; it would have been Marilyn Manson. Or maybe Jerry Garcia.

Barack Obama ‘Ecstasy’ Hits The Streets — But It’s Fake

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on December 7, 2009 Culture, News

AP Photo

They wanted to make a Palin version, but it stopped working halfway through the trip.

Police in Palmview, Texas last week seized a batch of reputed Ecstasy pills made in the image of President Barack Obama, Ryan Smith reports on CBS’ Crimesider blog.

A stash of the orange tablets was found last Monday during a south Texas traffic stop.

The 22-year-old driver had a drug collection of Hunter S. Thompson-esque proportions. Found in the car were black tar heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, along with the supposed Obama Ecstasy. He’s expected to face multiple felony drug possession charges.

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